1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to subsea oilfield well operations and more particularly to apparatus and method for killing or suppressing a subsea well.
2. Description of the Related Art
In an emergency condition, such as to prevent a blow out or due to a catastrophic failure in the well, the well may need to be suppressed. In subsea applications, a fluid line, generally referred to as the "kill line," supplies pressurized fluid from a source at the rig to an inlet at the wellhead equipment at a pressure higher than the formation pressure. For deepwater wells, the water column or sea depth may be a few to several thousand feet. Due to such a long kill line, there is great pressure drop between the surface pumps supplying the pressurized fluid and the wellhead, making it difficult to provide the quantity of high pressure fluid to the wellhead to kill the well. Such long fluid lines require very large pumps at the surface, which are expensive and take large rig space.
The present invention provides apparatus and method for suppressing a well utilizing a fluid pressure intensifier deployed adjacent the wellhead equipment.